22.03.04 – By Carlos “Stiff-jab” Kalinchuk – Guadalupe “Fiero” Martinez improved his record to 12-0 after Referee Ronnie Ralston called a halt to the action in 2:47 in round 7. Although it appeared VERY premature, neither Chalmers nor his corner disputed the stoppage. The reason it appeared premature was that Chalmers was fighting like this the entire night. He would open nearly every round by boxing for the first 20 seconds and then he would allow Martinez’s pressure to pin his backside against the ropes. To Chalmers credit, he too was also hurting Martinez with a vicious body assault in spite of lying on the ropes. In fact I had Chalmers winning 2-3 rounds going into round seven of their 8 round-scheduled fight.
Chalmers’ head movement allowed him to survive many of Martinez shots inside but as time went on, his head began to move less and less. As a result, by round 7, he looked spent even though he was still fighting Martinez with everything he had and landing some good leather of his own. It was only when Chalmers threw a low blow midway through the round that Martinez seemed to anger enough to want to finish Chalmers off. Chalmers responded like a warrior though, and landed some shots of his own, but then it was back to the ropes where he went through a momentary stretch without throwing a punch. The small stretch of no return fire from Chamlers, prompted Ralston into stopping the bout. Since Chalmers nor his corner disputed the call, perhaps it was the right thing to do as Ralston waved off the fight.
What ensued had to be the most ridiculous celebration in the history of boxing as Martinez celebrated by doing a sloppy back flip and the once famous 80’s break-dancing move, the centipede all over ring. To further cap off his ridiculous celebration in front of his hometown, he began doing some totally ridiculous poses. Jorge Paez would have been proud.
Johanna Alvarez Out-Classes Zamarron to Take Her Texas Jr. Flyweight Championship In The Co-Main Event!
In the co-featured bout of the evening, Lefty Flyweight Johanna “La Bailarina” Alvarez 15-2 fought a very game Anissa Zamarron 16-10 for Zamarron’s Texas Jr. Flyweight Championship for 8 solid rounds. Unfortunately for Zamarron, Alvarez brought her “A” game as she boxed beautifully and landed her overhand and straight left at will. The official scores were 80-72, 79-73, and 78-74 all in favor of Alvarez. I had Alvarez winning all 8 rounds for a score of 80-72.
Roberston and Adams Cards Stink As Usual; Hand Undeserving Hometown Fighter Win!
If the bout between Houstonian Akonday Fountain and Alicia Collin were based on who’s cheering section rooted the loudest, Fountain would have won as clearly as Judge Adams and Robertson card reflected. Both had Fountain pitching a shut out with scores of 40-36 while Eckols card was correctly scored a 38-38 draw. Thankfully in boxing, that is not how it is supposed to be done, except for tonight where the ruckus cheering of Fountain’s fans seemed win Fountain the fight between the ropes. Although Judges are supposed to be more subjective, as I’ve experienced for the past 2 years in Houston, for Adams and Robertson, this is par for the course.
The end result is that Fountain opened up her pro career with a victory while Alicia Collin opened up with a loss.
What happened:
Round 1 was all sloppy pressure by Fountain as she rushed Collin against the ropes with wild looping shots. Although very little landed and she was open for many counters, she did land more shots than Collin. In round two, her sloppy technique caught up with her as she began getting countered by the slower but more accurate lefty. Round 3 was a duplicate of round 2 while the 4th round had Fountains pressure win the round as she had done in round 1. Again, a clear 38-38 score is how the fight should have been scored.
Benjamin Flores Wins By 3rd Round KO!
In the third bout of the evening, Featherweight Benjamin Flores 3-0 (2 KO’s) TKO’d Louisiana’s Lamont Lindsey 1-1 when referee Ronnie Ralston called a halt to the action with 59 seconds left in round 3.
What happened:
If the first round were a track meet, Lindsey would have beaten Carl Lewis with all the running he was doing. Although one could mistake his movement for boxing, it was more running than anything else. Flores did land some effective body shots though to open the first round. In the second, Lindsey was warned for leading with his head for the second time in the fight. Flores was not distracted as he stuck to his game plan and continued attacking Lindsey to the body. The bodywork that was finally caught up to Lindsey as he even faked a low blow to have Ralston halt the action momentarily in round 2. Round 3 saw Lindsey slow down substantially. It was obvious the body shots were having their effect. It was only a matter of time as Lindsey went down from a 1-2 combination to the body followed by a short right by Flores. Although Lindsey beat the count, Ralston asked him if he wanted to continue and he didn’t respond. It was evident he wanted no more of Flores. But as soon as Ralston waved the fight off, Lindsey played the victim card to try and save face. It was actually pretty funny because he didn’t sell anyone on the fact that he really wanted to continue. This alone was worth the price of admission.
Marvin Williams Wins First Pro Fight By TKO In Round 3!
After losing his first 3 fights, Marvin Williams notched his 1st victory as a pro by Knocking out Enrique Velasquez in 1:59 of round 3. Enrique Velasquez was making his pro debut. Williams and Velasquez didn’t do much in round one but Velasquez did just a hair more than nothing in this round as he landed 2 body shots on Williams on his left side. Rounds 2-3 were all Williams though as he realized that he could land without impunity. Although Velasquez did not go down, he appeared slightly off balance and non-responsive to a few flurries as the fight was waved off. A definite argument could be made that Referee Ronnie Ralston was premature of his stoppage in this bout.
OSF Honors It’s Own; Ruben Rabago Awarded Plaque For Outstanding Match-Making And Meritorious Service To The Boxing In Houston!
In a show of class, OSF CEO Lloyd Broussard awarded 50+ year boxing veteran Ruben Rabago a plaque for his outstanding matchmaking before the Main Event. It was well deserved as Rabago has been a part of boxing nearly his entire life and holds some outstanding marks in the annals of Amateur boxing history in the state of Texas. He is the only University of Texas Boxer ever to hold multiple at once. He even fought the Legendary Bobo Olson when he was in the Navy. Ruben was also instrumental in keeping boxing alive and well in Houston during the 80’s by bringing legends like Salvador Sanchez and Lupe Pintor to the bayou city. Congratulations Rueben!! You deserve it and Houston thanks you for your hard work and dedication to bringing fights to the fans of Houston. Thanks!
Carlos “Stiff-jab” Kalinchuk
Contributing Writer & Photographer